Finally
by The Smoose
Summary: This is it, she's finally going. GSR...no seriously, despite the first few chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Finally

**Disclaimer: **Oh hadn't you heard? I recently won the lottery and bought CSI, from now on it's going to be a GSR fan fair!!!

**Little Depressing Comment: **Did anyone watch the fourth promo on YouTube? If you haven't, go, do it, NOW!!! In fact, watch all four of them but make sure you're not eating or drinking anything near the computer, I give you fair warning.

**A/N: **Ok, this idea hit me like a train in the wee hours of the morning, so I'm writing it, rather than jotting it down somewhere and forgetting it. I have the most incredible case of writers block with "A Week To Remember" but I promise not to leave it hanging, I swear it'll get finished. For all those who are waiting on "Misconceptions", again, I promise to finish it once AWTR is done and dusted and then I'll finally get cracking on the sequel to "Anniversary". I'd just like to take the time to thank all the people who are still waiting around for the sequel after months of me saying I'll get it done, but it's going to happen, I already have the first three chapters on paper but I don't want to start until I've gotten at least AWTR finished. Final thing before the A/N turns into the actual fic, you may all hate me in the first chapter but I swear to you, I know what I'm doing!

* * *

Sara Sidle strode purposefully through the corridors of the lab, noting the busy people going about their jobs in a never ending fight against "The Bad Guys" of Las Vegas. She walked past the break room, seeing Warrick and Catherine sat close together, possibly debating something in a case file or magazine, or maybe they were just using it as an excuse to sit so close. 'Man, they need to get a room' Sara thought, smiling to herself and shaking her head. Next, she passed the AV Lab where Nick was going over some footage of a parking lot that had recently been the proud host of a hit and run with a burglary chaser. She stopped in the doorway and watched the handsome Texan stare avidly at the screen, as he had been doing for the past three hours, trying to find some clue as to who the criminal was. She watched him for a few more minutes before Greg burst through the doors that led to the DNA Lab.

"Nick! We got something from the door handle!" Greg said, breathlessly. Nick jumped from his seat and ran over to the doors and into the Lab.

Sara sighed. Although she loved all the members of the Lab like her own family, not that she could remember that very well, she would perhaps miss Greg the most. He had always been the one who could cheer her up in an instant, no matter the reason for her being down. Greg had that quality of a person you just couldn't help loving, but only to the extent of older sister to younger brother. It had always flattered Sara that Greg wanted to be more than friends, but she had just never wanted to cross that line. Not with Greg anyway. Nick would have been the most logical choice. He was closest to her age, dashingly handsome, always reliable, but Sara had never felt that spark with him. He was the older brother she never had. And Warrick? Well, everyone knew that Warrick and Catherine needed to 'get it on' before someone locked them in a small room together, and Sara felt quite smug to be privy of the knowledge that they had already done so. Been there, done that and most definitely got the T-Shirt (she had the proof in the form of an "I Love NYC" T-Shirt that they had gotten for her on their first holiday together last year, Sara being the reason they were together in the first place, but that was a story for another time) so no, Warrick was most definitely out of the question and frankly, not Sara's type. She would even be sad to say good-bye to Catherine, even though they had not gotten off to the best of starts, and there had been that period of uncomfortable tension after Eddie had been murdered, they had become comfortable friends. She sighed and moved on from the AV Lab to her final destination. She turned the last corner and was glad to see his door was open; it would give her a better chance to do her task with less pain, just get straight to the point. From what she could see of him, he was doing paper work, his most favourite of tasks, but he looked up, apparently using his "Sara Sense" to foresee her coming and laid his pen down as she stepped over the threshold of Gil Grissom's office.

"Hey, you going home?" he asked before she could open her mouth.

"Uh, yeah, you got a second?" Sara asked, trying her best to smile without making it look too fake, a fete she had near enough mastered over the years of working with the man before her.

Grissom sighed dramatically. "Well, as you can see, I have piles of paper work that I would _love_ to keep going with, but if distraction calls, who am I to ignore it?" Sara's smile lightened a little. True, their "relationship" had gotten better over the weeks, but a few dozen days was not enough for years of disappointment and sadness. She stepped forwards to his desk and dropped a white envelope onto the file he had been working on before her entrance. Grissom followed the envelope as gravity brought it floating down to take up more space on his desk.

"It's my letter of resignation." Sara answered the unasked question she could see forming on his face. "I don't want you to make a big fuss out of it and ask millions of questions about it, just accept it, sign it and hand it in to Ecklie, please." She inwardly applauded herself that she had managed to say all that without her voice or her tear ducts failing her. She stood, head held high, waiting for the bomb to drop and the inquisition to start, despite her requests, but it didn't come. Grissom just looked into her eyes, with what could have been tears in his own.

"Why?" Grissom croaked, so quietly Sara barely heard him. She had prepared for this question, knowing that someone was bound to ask.

"I want to move back to Frisco, maybe give lectures, get my PhD. I just…I just need a different work environment. Please Grissom," she whispered before he could speak again. "this is hard enough as it is without you questioning it." Her eyes had begun to burn, but she stood her ground, waiting for him to open the envelope. Grissom looked like he wanted to say more, but he thought twice about it and lowered his head, playing with the un-stuck flap of the document on his desk.

"Fine." He said, dejectedly. "I'll hand it over to Ecklie before I go home. When are you going?"

Sara managed to wipe her eyes without him looking up before answering. "Two weeks tomorrow, it's all in the letter." He nodded and she turned away to the door. She'd barely taken two steps before he spoke again.

"This isn't because Sofia and I are together is it?"

Sara looked over her shoulder at him. He was still staring at the envelope. Sara sighed again. "Grissom, believe it or not, not everything I do is because of you."

* * *

The next day, Ecklie called Sara into his office as soon as she arrived at the lab to try and persuade her to stay. He tried every angle conceivable, a raise, promotion, shift change, everything. After the fifth time of Sara saying she was definitely leaving, he got the message and, in a strange character shift, wished her luck with her life and conceded that she was one of the best CSI's he had ever worked with.

"Well…gosh, thanks Ecklie. I don't know what to say." 'God please tell me I'm not blushing!'

"How about 'I was only joking, I'll stay'? No? Well, I can see there'll be no changing your mind. Good luck Sidle." He offered her his hand to shake, which she accepted and hurried back out of his office to the break room where Grissom was in the middle of giving out assignments.

"…stabbed to death by his wife, Nick, take Greg with you. Cath, you have a shoot out in The Bellagio, attempted robbery, the security guard shot him. Finally, Warrick, you and I have a kidnapping in Henderson with Sara, when she gets here."

"Sorry Griss, Ecklie wanted to talk to me about something." Sara said, remaining standing as everyone else was rising from their seats.

"Oh, you're here." Grissom said, seemingly surprised. "I thought you might have left already. I'll meet you at the car." He got up and walked out of the room, leaving Sara to four sets of eyes staring at her.

"What did he mean he thought you might have left?" Catherine asked, always the quickest on the uptake.

"Yeah," piped up Greg. "And what did Ecklie want? He didn't fire you did he?"

"No! No Greg." Sara sighed and sat down in the chair Grissom had vacated. Everyone else took the hint and sat too. "He didn't fire me, I resigned."

"You what?" Nick hissed unbelievingly.

"I resigned. I'm moving back to San Francisco in two weeks. I'm going to start lecturing." She looked at the stunned faces. "And before you ask, there's nothing you can do that will convince me to stay, Ecklie already tried, lots of times. I'm definitely going."

"What about Grissom?" Warrick asked. Mumbles of agreement met his words.

"What about him?" Sara said, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

"Well surely he must have said something, attempted to get you to stay?" Catherine interjected.

"Why would he? Look, I don't want a big fuss made out of this so I just asked him to sign the letter and give it to Ecklie." She looked pleadingly at Catherine to drop the subject because she knew it would be harder to say goodbye if they all bombarded her with questions.

"So you're moving back to San Fran?"

"Yep."

"And there's nothing any of us can do to make you stay?"

"Nope."

"Well then," Catherine said, rising from her chair. "I guess we'd better make it the damn best leaving party you'll ever have!" she walked out of the room, the boys in tow, leaving Sara mumbling excuses to an empty room.

TBC

* * *

Well, it's 2:45 am so I think I'll turn in for the night…morning…whatever. I've already set up the fences around me for the rotten fruit and vegetables you're all going to throw because of Grissom and (shudders) Spork, but I promise you that it will all pan out in the end. The rotten fruit doesn't bother me, it's the pointy objects that you need to put down!!!

**A/N 2: **OMG nearly forgot, the hugeness of this news: GCSE RESULTS ARE IN!!!!! I got 5 C's in Spanish, English Language (poetry shudders), Maths (I was an hour late for the second paper so...), ICT (computing) and Science (stupid physics grrrr!!!!!) and 2 B's in BTEC (sportish stuff) and English Literature (a book called "Heroes") and I was incredibly shocked by the English B because I was certain I was going to get the second B in Spanish and fail English completely, oh and I got a level 2 in Religious Studies which is an A - C grade, but they're awkward so they grade us using levels instead of letters. So what this means is I am enrolling in College and they'll tell me when I start and I'm going to study Law, Biology, Sociology and Psychology...writing that last sentence gave me RSI!!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Do you really think that if I owned CSI we would have been waiting for three months to find out what happened to Sara? Never mind waiting 7 sodding years for some descent GSR moments!

**A/N: **I start college on Monday…I have officially never been so scared in my life! The only thing that's keeping me from a complete nervous breakdown is the fact that all of my best friends (bar one) are going to the same college as me AND three of them are doing the exact same lessons except they're doing History where I'm doing Biology but still, better than nothing! Saying that, I bet we're all in different classes…sod's law! One last thing, thanks for the reviews so far. I didn't get anything pointy thrown at me but I did get some rotten eggs, which I've taken with my head held high because I hated pairing Griss with Spork, and it'll get worse before it gets better, like the Flu!

* * *

Catherine wasn't kidding when she said it would be the best leaving party Sara would ever have. She had invited the entire night shift, including lab techs, to her large house two weeks later, which had an enormous banner plastered over the front door which read "We'll Never Forget You". Inside, Catherine had gone to town on the decorations. Nearly all the furniture had been removed apart from some chairs that lined the walls, leaving plenty of space for dancing and having fun. Sara arrived early, per Catherine's request, wearing navy blue hipsters and the same colour blouse, bringing a platter of vegetarian friendly food with her.

"Wow Cath!" Sara gasped once she had been pulled through the front door. "This is…it's…oh Catherine!" she nearly dropped the plate as a wave of emotion overtook her. Catherine, who was wearing a peach coloured, strappy dress, removed the platter from her grasp, placed it next to the food on one of the cloth covered tables lining the walls and hugged Sara as she sobbed. "Thank you Catherine! It's amazing, you're amazing!"

"Hey, don't give her all the credit." Warrick said, coming down the stairs sporting black jeans and a white dress shirt in classic Warrick style, unbuttoned to the chest. At the sight of a very emotional Sara he glanced at Catherine. "Is she alright?"

"She's fine hon. Just a bit emotional right now." Catherine smiled. Sara hugged Warrick too, much to his surprise.

"Thank you as well Warrick. I'm going to miss you both so much." She sniffed. "And if you forget to invite me to the wedding I'll kill you both." They both chuckled at this and had a group hug before the door bell rang.

"That'll be Greg, he's always early." Catherine said "You'd think with his rep he'd get tired of partying." She went to open the door and Sara rushed upstairs to the bathroom to check on her make-up. When she returned, someone had turned the music on and a fast paced thumping was booming from the stereo.

"Greg, turn that off!" Sara yelled over the noise.

"Sara! Wow, nice tags." Greg looked her up and down and winked at her, smiling broadly. Sara grinned back.

"Not looking too bad yourself." She said, noting that he looked like he'd come from the 50's, wearing a blue striped suit and shirt with a cream tie, complete with a gangster style hat. Sara leaned towards the stereo and twiddled the volume button to 13 instead of 30 as Greg had put it on. "Aww come on, lets get this party started!" Greg yelled the last part which made Sara laugh.

"I'm really gonna miss you Greggo. Although I can't think for the life of me why." She playfully punched his shoulder and he threw an arm around hers.

"That, my dear, is why God invented Cyber and phone sex." He ducked just in time to see Sara's fist whiz past his face. "I'm only joking. We'll just have to meet up at a hotel once in a while for a good old fashioned…"

"Gregory Jonathan Sanders! If you finish that sentence I will personally castrate you with a spoon!" Sara threatened, trying to keep a straight face. "Where's Catherine and Warrick?"

"I think they went into the kitchen. Probably having a good old fashioned…"

"Greg!"

"Alright! They went to get the rest of the food." Greg raised his hands in submission. "Ooh, saved by the doorbell." And he rushed off to answer the door as Sara went to help Catherine and Warrick.

Half an hour later and the party was in full swing. Sara mingled with the guests, even though she didn't even know some of them, 'Free food and booze brings out all your friends' she thought. Nick had arrived when Greg answered the door and Brass not long after, even Hodges and Ecklie made an appearance, but Grissom was, as of yet, nowhere to be found. She sighed to herself. She hadn't totally convinced herself he would show, but she couldn't deny, it would have been nice. Sara returned to the middle of the party and was immediately dragged off to dance with Nick, who was then replaced by Greg, Warrick, Brass and nearly every person in the room over and over again.

* * *

"No, really Brass," she said two hours later when he asked her to dance for the seventh time that night. "I'm wiped. If I dance anymore I wont have the energy to catch my plane."

"Well that was the plan." He said, smiling gently. After one last hug, she fought her way through the throng of people out into the back yard for some fresh air. There was no one else outside so she sat down on the bench on the patio, leant her head back and closed her eyes, listening to the slightly quieter music drifting through the air.

"You look tired." A voice sounded from above her and to the left. It shocked Sara and her eyes shot open, trying to focus on the dimly lit figure looming over her. It was Grissom. "Can I join you?" he motioned to the space on the bench next to her.

"Free country." She mumbled, not looking at him. He sat, not at the edge of the bench as she expected him to do, but close to her. So close, in fact, that their knees were touching. She glanced at him. He was staring intently at his hands which where joined by the fingertips in a bridge above his lap with his elbows resting on his legs. He was dressed in a charcoal black shirt and black jeans, each item fitted snugly to his albeit athletic form. "Where've you been? I didn't think you were going to come."

"I've been around." He said simply. There it was, one of the many things that aggravated her about this man, his ability to answer a question perfectly in as little words as possible but still leaving it unanswered. She sighed again and he turned his head to her. "I didn't bring Sofia."

"Uh huh." She was not in the mood to hear about _that_ woman. "You could have you know, the invitation was for everyone on the night shift." He didn't answer her, instead standing up and moving in front of her. 'Great, he's going to run off now back to her'.

'_I hope the days pass easy and the moments pass slow  
__And each road leads you where you wanna go  
__And if you're faced with a choice and you have to choose  
__I hope you choose the one that means the most to you  
__And if one door opens to another door closed  
__I hope you keep on walking 'till you find the window  
__If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile  
__But more than anything, more than anything'_

"Dance with me Sara." He said quietly. Sara's head snapped up. Grissom was neither smiling nor frowning and the dim light made it even harder to see his facial expression. After a moments thought, she took the hand he had offered and stepped into line with him.

'_My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to  
__Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small, you never need to carry more than you can hold  
__And while you're out there getting where you're getting to, I hope you know somebody loves you  
__And wants the same things too, yeah this is my wish'_

"Why are you leaving?" Grissom whispered into her ear as they moved slowly around the patio. Sara sighed.

"I told you, I want to start teaching and I need a different…" She began but Grissom interrupted her.

"Don't start that bull shit about needing a different work environment, you're just fine here.

'_I hope you never look back but you never forget  
__All the ones who love you and the place you left  
__I hope you always forgive and you never regret  
__And you help somebody every chance you get  
__Oh you find God's grace in every mistake  
__And always give more than you take  
__But more than anything, more than anything'_

Sara stopped moving and stepped back from him. "I'm just fine here? Ha!" she let out a derisive snort of laughter and turned away from him. "Alright Grissom, you want to know the truth? Fine. I can't stay here with you here. I can't be around someone I…care about and be held at arms length. It's degrading, never mind frustrating." She turned back to him, he was staring at his shoes.

'_My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to  
__Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small, you never need to carry more than you can hold  
__And while you're out there getting where you're getting to, I hope you know somebody loves you  
__And wants the same things too, yeah this is my wish'_

"What if you didn't have to be at arms length?" he mumbled.

"Griss, just drop it, you have Sofia now…"

"So this **is** about me and her."

"No." Sara said calmly. "Look, for me, Vegas was like…like the waiting room at the dentists and I was next in line. Now the person before me has left and it's my turn to walk through the door."

Grissom's head snapped up. "Yeah? Well for me the waiting room was my life until I met you. I love you." Sara was surprised to see his eyes glistening with tears. His confession had knocked the wind from her, but she regained her composure quickly.

"Why do you love me?" she asked him.

"What?"

"Why do you love me?" she said again. Grissom stuttered a few times and she smiled weakly. "Griss, if I wasn't leaving tomorrow morning, would you still have told me?"

"Yes." He said simply.

"Really?" she stared at him, willed him to keep looking at her, but after a few seconds his head dropped and he returned to staring at his laces. "That's what I thought." She walked past him, back into the party.

'_My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to  
__Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small, you never need to carry more than you can hold  
__And while you're out there getting where you're getting to, I hope you know somebody loves you  
__And wants the same things too, yeah this is my wish'_

Grissom remained in the garden for a few more minutes before he'd had enough. He walked back into the house and found Catherine.

"Cath, I'm going now." He said loudly, over the music. Catherine, who by this time was a little…merry, grabbed his arm before he could escape.

"Why? This is a party Gil! For Sara! You know Sara, the love of your life? Sara?" she slurred. Grissom sighed and prised Catherine's hand from his arm.

"I know Catherine. I've seen her but I need to go home, Sofia needs…" Catherine tutted loudly and turned away from him. Grissom rolled his eyes and headed for the front door, grabbing his jacket from a hook on the way out. He stepped into his car but as he sat down, something in his right hand jacket pocket hit the centre console and made a noise. 'Strange,' he thought 'there wasn't anything in their when I arrived'. He assumed Greg must have slipped him something, but he pulled out a long, thin, neatly wrapped parcel and an envelope with what he recognised as Sara's curvy writing. He ripped the paper from the parcel and revealed a leather bound box. He opened it. Inside was a sliver chain necklace with some sort of Chinese symbol in the centre. He had no idea what it meant so he closed the box and opened the envelope, withdrawing the letter inside.

_Gil,_

_I know that my leaving has hurt you and for that I'm sorry, but I can't stay here knowing that I can never have the thing that I want the most. I received a phone call a couple of weeks ago from a friend who works at San Francisco State University, offering me a job teaching there if I wanted it. I weighed the pros and cons of taking the job and believe me when I say that deciding to leave was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I want to thank you for teaching me basically everything I know about forensics and meeting you was the best moment of my life. Finally, I want you to know that, although I'm not completely in favour of Sofia, the two of you have nothing to do with me leaving, I was planning to go months before you even got together. You deserve a life Grissom._

_Sara_

Grissom stared at the letter. Those five words sent chills down his spine. He had said those exact words to Sara when he discovered she was "dating" Hank. He numbly folded the letter and put it back into the envelope, storing both it and the necklace back in his pocket before turning the key in the ignition. The stereo turned on automatically.

'_Dry your eyes mate, I know it's hard to take but her mind has been made up  
__There's plenty more fish in the sea'_

"Oh shut up!" he punched the volume button that turned the stereo off and pulled out of Catherine's driveway. Twenty minutes later he arrived at his townhouse…well, their townhouse he supposed it was now. He entered quietly so he wouldn't wake Sofia, but she was waiting for him, sitting on the sofa wearing one of his shirts and no pants. "Hey." He said quietly, depositing his keys in the bowl on the counter and removing his jacket.

"Hi babe." Sofia replied in that strange accent that really annoyed Grissom. "How was the party?" she stood up and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Ok." He answered, extricating himself from her arms and moving towards the bedroom. "I'm pretty tired, I'm going to bed."

"Ok babe, I'm going to get a quick shower then I'll join you." She winked at him and walked off towards the bathroom. Grissom smiled bleakly and sighed.

"What have I done?"

TBC

* * *

Thus ends chapter two. Anyone who can guess the songs gets…a virtual hug. And if anyone from England is reading and watched the film "View From The Top" on BBC 1 on Sunday, yes I know, I stole the waiting room line from it but it was awesome! And I'd like to apologise immensely for the Spork mentioning's, I hate writing it but it'll all pan out in the end, I promise! 


	3. Chapter 3

Wee, chapter three! And yes, I **know **you all hate the Grissom/Spork thing but I swear, you're going to absolutely love the ending to this fic, which is going to be a long way off. This isn't a short "Grissom get's to Sara in the nick of time" fic, I have plans for it. Oh and for the purposes of this fic, the last two chapters were set in the end of 2004 – beginning of 2005 but Sofia was brought in earlier and Nick doesn't get abducted.

A/N: OMG I start college tomorrow! Eeeep! But my first lesson isn't till 12:00 pm!

For _The Queen of Sin _because we had a conversation about how annoying it is when people spell Grissom's name as Gill instead of Gil…GRRRR!!!

* * *

_September 27__th__ 2007, 9:00pm_

"Hey Sara?" Dean Valerie Cook yelled from her office as Sara walked past. The brunette back-tracked and poked her head around the door.

"Yeah boss?" Sara looked at her formidable yet friendly 40-something boss and friend, who reminded her a lot of Catherine.

"I've got something you might be interested in." Sara raised an eyebrow to this and stepped into Valerie's office. "It's a lecture in Entomology being held by…"

"Gil Grissom?" Sara interrupted her.

"Yeah." Valerie said, surprised. "How'd you know? I only just found out."

"He's…" Sara was going to say "He's a friend" but she wasn't even sure of that anymore. "He's…my old boss. The guys back in Vegas give me the heads up when any of them are coming to town."

"Oh, well, fair enough. You probably want to go then. It's on the 1st October at…" Sara interrupted her again.

"Val, I appreciate it, but could you give it to someone else? You know Harry's been saying he wants to learn Entomology, he'd love it." Three years later and Sara still didn't think she'd be comfortable meeting Grissom again, especially after the last conversation they'd had. Valerie looked curiously at Sara but didn't question her refusal.

"Well, if you're sure?" at Sara's nod, Valerie paged Professor Harry Wilkins to come to her office and dismissed Sara. She passed Harry in the corridor.

"Hey Sara, you got any idea what our Lord and Master wants with me?" said the plump, red headed man as he continued walking towards Valerie's office.

"Don't worry H, I'm sure you can find another job. Maybe in the Hobo business?" Sara smiled and patted him on the back as she passed him. Harry let out a sarcastic bark of laughter and Sara giggled as she made her way to the women's changing room to change and go home.

* * *

_September 29__th__ 2007, 6:00pm_

Gil Grissom stood in front of his open locker and sighed. He regarded the contents of it: spare clothes, wash kit, his lunch, a few other bits and bobs, and hanging on a small hook on the inside of the door, a silver chain with a Chinese symbol in the middle. Grissom retrieved the necklace from the hook and put it around his neck, just like he'd been doing every evening before work and taking it off again after work before he went home. He studied his appearance one last time in the mirror stuck to the door and walked out of the locker rooms, ready for the last shift before his departure to San Francisco.

* * *

"Hey Griss, you ready for your trip to San Fran?" Catherine said several hours later. She gave him a sympathetic look, which he ignored and continued walking towards his office. 

"Yes thank you Catherine, don't you have some criminals to be putting in jail right now?" he replied, knowing that the comment wouldn't throw Catherine off for a second.

"Nah, Warrick's got it covered." She wafted a hand behind her and followed Grissom into his office. "You gonna be ok going on you own?"

"You know, you were a lot less snoopy when you came back from your honeymoon." Grissom sat down and pulled a piece of paper from the mountain on his desk, beginning to write.

"Hey! I gave you a two week break! And as the nuns say "Get back in the habit", even Warrick was getting concerned at my lack of nosiness." She smiled at Grissom but when he didn't look up from his paperwork she ploughed on with the conversation. "Look Gil, I just want to know you're not going to go off the deep end if you see Sara again." Grissom stared at her incredulously before looking back to the paper and shaking his head. "I'm just looking out for you Gil." Grissom sighed and dropped his pen on the desk.

"And I appreciate that Catherine, I really do. And if I see Sara then…then I see Sara. that's it. I'm not going to "go off the deep end" as you so nicely put it, now if you'll excuse me," he stood up before she could speak anymore. "I need to go and talk to Archie about my case." He rushed past Catherine and hurried to the AV Lab.

"Oh hey Grissom," Archie greeted him as he walked through the door. "I got something on the cell phone video." Grissom walked over to the computer and leaned over to take the controls. As he did so, his necklace dangled through the gap in his polo shirt where he hadn't buttoned it up. He was too busy studying the screen to notice, but Archie did. "Nice necklace Griss. Sophia give it to you?" Grissom tore his eyes away from the screen and as he turned to look at Archie his chin hit the necklace. He immediately straightened up and tucked it back down his shirt.

"What'd you say Arch?"

"I just asked if Sophia gave you the necklace, it's nice, the symbol I mean." Archie said.

"You know what it means?" Grissom pulled the necklace out again and studied it.

"Yeah, I've got relatives in China, it means "Forever Yours". Anniversary present right?" Archie grinned at Grissom who shot him a tiny smile and put the necklace away again.

"Listen, I'm leaving now so report anything you find to Nick." He turned and walked out of the AV Lab, out of the building and into his car. He removed the necklace from his neck and stared at it. After a few minutes, he opened the glove compartment, pulled out the necklace's box, placed it inside and stowed the box in the inside pocket of his jacket before turning the engine over and driving home.

* * *

_September 30__th__ 2007, 2:30pm_

"So are you gonna tell me?" Valerie asked Sara as they drove to the mall. Sara looked sideways at her friend but kept her eyes on the road.

"Tell you what?" Sara replied, although she had a funny idea what.

"Are you gonna tell me why you handed off a lecture in Entomology with your old boss to Harry Wilkins?"

"He wants to learn the field!" Sara said exasperatedly. "And besides, I already know my fair share because of Grissom."

"Oh that's bull shit and you know it." Valerie laughed.

"Watch your language!" Sara hissed.

"Sorry." Valerie held her hands up and surrender. "You know, I always knew something had gone on between you two, you couldn't stop talking about him when you came home from that lecture in college. "Dr. Grissom" this and "Dr. Grissom" that. That's why I cant understand why you didn't want to go to the lecture this time. You haven't seen him in three years Sara. wouldn't it be nice to just…"

"Valerie, for your own safety, drop it. I just don't need to go, ok?" they had pulled into a parking space by now and Sara was staring daggers at Valerie.

"Alright, alright, I give in. now, lets go shopping and take our mind's off of men!"

* * *

_September 30__th__ 2007, 2:45pm_

'Why didn't I pack any other shoes?' thought Grissom to himself as he walked out of _Timberland_ sporting a bag with $150 worth of suede and leather. 'Ah well, I needed a new pair anyway.' He started walking towards _Starbucks_, thinking of getting himself a Cappuccino, when he noticed a small boy, wearing a _Cubs _jersey, standing in the middle of the mall looking lost. He walked over t the boy and knelt down in front of him. "Hey little guy, you lost?" the boy nodded and started chewing on the nails on his right hand. He had large, brown eyes and curly brown hair and couldn't have been more than four years old. "Where's your mommy and daddy?" Grissom asked him. The boy shrugged and just stared helplessly at him. There was something strangely familiar about that face. "Come on, let's go and sit down for a minute." Grissom tentatively took the boy's hand and walked back towards _Starbucks_. The boy followed him willingly and they sat at a table. A waitress came over and asked Grissom what he wanted and he ordered a Cappuccino to go for himself and a brownie for the boy. "What's your name son?" Grissom asked him when the waitress had left.

"Mark." He mumbled, still chewing on his fingernails.

"Well Mark, I'm Gil." The little boy looked at him curiously.

"Like a fish?" Grissom chuckled and shook his head.

"No, not like a fish. Mark, do you remember what kind of shop your mommy or daddy was in?"

"My mommy was in a big shop with lots and lots of stories in." Mark said. 'Probably Waterstones' Grissom thought. 'Well, there's no point going back there, his mother's probably gone looking for him. I'll take him to the information desk in a minute'. The waitress arrived with their orders and Grissom paid her. Mark all but swallowed the brownie whole before Grissom had even picked up his Cappuccino.

"I like chocolate!" he exclaimed and grinned at Grissom. Grissom chuckled and took a sip of his hot drink and listened as a message was sounded from the speakers located around the mall.

"_Attention shoppers: A small boy who answers to the name of Mark has wandered away from his mother. If anyone finds him could they report to the nearest information desk as his mother is very worried. Mark is nearly four years old, three and a half feet tall, has brown hair and eyes and is wearing a Chicago Cubs jersey with Khaki shorts and sneakers. Thank you."_

"Well I guess they must mean you little guy." Mark nodded and grinned more at Grissom. They both stood up and Grissom took Mark's hand again as they made their way to the information desk that was located around the corner from _Starbucks_. Grissom approached the desk and showed them his badge. "Gil Grissom, I found this little guy wandering around near _Starbucks_ and I just heard his mother is looking for him. His name's Mark." He said to the woman at the desk. She smiled at him and picked up her telephone.

"Janet, could you tell the woman you have waiting up there that her son is down here? Thanks." She turned back to Grissom. "His mother will be down in a moment, she was at the desk on the next floor."

"Thanks." Grissom sat down on one of the chairs the were lined up next to the desk and Mark, for some reason unknown to Grissom, sat on the floor next to his feet and started plucking at his pant leg.

"Excuse me, I was told someone found my son." A woman's voice filled Grissom's ears and Mark jumped up.

"Mommy!" he squealed and ran over to his mother.

"Mark!" the woman caught him as he jumped at her.

Grissom stood up as the woman turned to him.

"Sara?"

TBC

* * *

Ooh, that's rather coincidental, isn't it! This was one of those "it's really late/early" chapters where you take twice, even three times as long to type it out because you have to keep going back to delete extra letters or correct spelling mistakes etc. whilst being **really **quite because you're not supposed to be on the computer after 10:00pm and you should be asleep anyway, so shh! But I got it out in the end! 

P.S. Anyone notice the first date? If you did and are now quietly chuckling to yourself, you're more tired than I am and if you're scrolling back up to check the date now and going "WTF? What's so important about the date?" I'd advise you to turn and run away before you get mobbed. No, seriously, if that last thing applies to you, hang your head in shame, in shame I say!!! Numpty!!!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Goodness, never mind the rotten fruit and veg, we've got rumours flying at me now! Let me tell you though, this chapter, this one right here, is the one I had in my head in the first place and I built around it. And this is why I said it was like the Flu, this is the bit when you start regaining the use of your nose!!! (I use strange analogies)

**Another Little Depressing point: **Anyone seen the fifth promo? Well it's more of a small clip, not very good quality but oh my damn did it make me hold my breath! Go watch it now on CSI Wiki!

* * *

"Sara?" Grissom said, staring at the woman who was holding Mark. Sara's head snapped up and looked at Grissom. Her jaw dropped and she struggled to get a better grip on her son.

"Sara! Geeze, you run fast when you want to!" Valerie came running awkwardly in her high heels behind Sara and skidded to a halt next to her. "Hey kiddo." She smiled at Mark who waved and tucked his head into Sara's shoulder. "Sara?" No one seemed to have noticed Valerie being there so she tapped Sara on the back and Sara jumped. "Sorry girl, you kinda had a statue thing going on, what's up?" she looked from Sara to Grissom and then did a double take. "Hi." She smiled at Grissom and then turned to Sara so Grissom couldn't see what they were talking about. "Is that the guy that found Mark? He's hot!" she grinned at Sara who was still staring at Grissom.

"No, Val," she moved her friend out of the way. "this is Grissom." Grissom extended his hand to Valerie and she took it.

"Grissom? As in Gil Grissom? As in your old boss Grissom? As in…"

"Yes Val, that Grissom." She glared at her friend before she said something she would regret. "He found Mark. Could you take him back to the car? I want to talk to Grissom for a minute." Valerie was about to say something, but she saw the look in Sara's eyes and took the child from Sara.

"Mommy?" he called.

"It's ok baby, I'll be out in a minute." She waved at Mark and turned back to Grissom when they rounded a corner. "Hi."

"Hey." He replied. They stood there, in the middle of the mall and getting in the way of a few people for a few minutes before Sara had the sense to sit on one of the seats and Grissom followed. "Well this is awkward." He sighed.

"For you maybe, I'm fine with it." Sara said, not looking at him.

"Oh." Grissom looked at his laces, 'Is that like his trademark or something?' Sara wondered. "So how've you been?"

"Fine, teaching Physics at the University. Look, if you want to catch up or something you can come round for dinner tonight if you want." She said after another minute of silence. Grissom lifted his head and smiled at her.

"That'd be nice." He said. Sara nodded and gave him her address.

"Ok, so see you tonight then." Sara said.

"Yeah. Ok." Grissom replied. Sara nodded one last time and walked away to the car park. Valerie was sitting in the car passenger seat and Mark was in his booster seat in the back. Sara jumped in and was immediately questioned by Valerie.

"So what was that little scene about?" she said before Sara had even buckled herself in. Sara rolled her eyes and started the car.

"There was no scene Val, just your imagination running wild again. You know what they say about blondes don't you?"

"They can say whatever the f…" Sara gave her a seething look and gestured towards Mark. "…flip they want, blondes have more fun."

"Yeah but brunettes have a better time remembering it the morning after." Sara grinned at her friend.

"Whatever, look you're avoiding the issue. What was with the tension with Grissom?" Sara rolled her eyes again.

"It was nothing. We just haven't seen each other in four years, things were bound to be a little…sketchy."

"I've seen sketchy before, that was near suicidal!" Valerie said dramatically.

"And the award for over-reacting goes to…"

"Fine, I'll drop it, but if you don't let me know soon I'll fire you." She said smugly. They had pulled into Valerie's driveway by this time and Sara turned to her friend, raising an eyebrow. "Well, maybe I won't fire you, but you'll be getting all the stupid kids in your class." Sara laughed and Valerie got out of the car.

"See you tomorrow, **boss**." She reversed out of Valerie's drive and drove home.

* * *

Grissom arrived at Sara's house at 7:30pm dressed in a black shirt and jeans, wielding a bunch of flowers. He knocked on the door and quickly looked himself over one last time, smoothing out the minuscule creases in his shirt. The door opened to a smiling Sara who disappeared almost immediately after telling him to come in. Grissom stepped through the door and was greeted by the smell of pasta bolognaise and the sound of Mark laughing from a room down the hall. Assuming he was allowed to move around, he stepped into the living area which was opposite the kitchen and dining room. He laid the flowers on the coffee table in front of the couch and looked around.

When Sara returned from Mark's room she found Grissom in the kitchen stirring the food.

"Griss, you're a guest, I'm the one that should be cooking." She grinned as he turned towards her.

"You? The take-out queen?" she punched his shoulder and nudged him out of the way.

"Yeah well when you have a kid you can't eat pizza everyday." Sara said.

"I bet Mark would argue otherwise." Grissom grinned.

"Ugh, pizza and Mark do not mix! He had some for his dinner and it's taken me nearly an hour to get him to bed!" she laughed.

Grissom chuckled. "Is he a vegetarian too?"

Sara shook her head "When I was pregnant the doctor told me to start eating meat again and I just carried on after Mark was born because he's anaemic and needs to eat meat. But I don't eat as much as I used to."

"Oh. Is he ok with it?"

"Yeah, it doesn't really affect anything he does, he just has little dizzy spells now and again, but he's ok."

"Good. Hey do you have a vase or something like that?"

"Uh, there should be one in that cupboard there." She pointed to the cupboard above his head. "Why?"

"Because I need to put the flowers I bought you into water before they get all shrivelled." He took out a glass vase and filled it with water. Turning back to Sara he saw she was staring at him.

"You bought me flowers?" Grissom nodded. "No one's ever bought me flowers before. Thanks Griss." He wafted a hand at her in a 'don't mention it' fashion and walked back into the lounge, Sara following. "Listen, I'm sorry for yesterday. I could have been a bit more friendly to you, I was just worried about Mark and…"

"Sara don't worry about it, I understand." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "How is Mark by the way?"

"Oh he's discovering the world. Stretching his legs so to speak." Sara grinned. She picked up the flowers and sniffed them. "Thanks again Griss. Jasmines are my favourite."

"I know, you mentioned it once." He took the flowers from her and placed them in the vase.

"Yeah about 5 years ago maybe. You remembered that?" he blushed a little while arranging the flowers and she beamed at him. "Come on, dinner should be ready." And they headed back into he kitchen.

* * *

"Well I must say Sara," Grissom said when he'd finished his third helping of pasta. "your cooking is excellent. It rivals my own." He pushed his plate away and patted his full stomach.

"Oh, so modest Grissom." Sara got up and took the plates to the sink. Grissom followed her as she started to wash up and grabbed her hands before she got them wet.

"You cooked, I'll wash up." He said and plunged his hands into the water.

"No, that's not how it works." Sara argued.

"I don't care. Go and put your feet up." When she didn't move he pointed to the door. "Go!" she smiled at him and went into the lounge. Ten minutes later Grissom entered the lounge to find Sara sat, curled into a ball on the sofa reading a book. "Whatcha reading?" he asked playfully as he sat down next to her.

"For maybe the twentieth time, _The Turn of the Screw_." She placed a bookmark on the page she was on and laid the book on the coffee table where the flowers bow resided.

"Don't stop on my account." Grissom said.

"No, it's fine. Anyway, I wanna grill you about the guys. I spoke to Catherine when she got back from her and Warrick's honeymoon." Sara turned more to him, still with her legs under her and leaned her arm on the back of the sofa.

"Well, Nick's the daytime supervisor as of June and using the…uh…status to his advantage. Bit of a ladies man." Sara laughed at this and he chuckled with her. "Yeah, and Greg is a CSI III, still works for me and is engaged to one of Nick's sisters. Apparently they've been dating since she came to visit him last year." Sara gasped. "Oh and possibly the weirdest news on the planet, Hodges is a dad."

"No way!" Sara squealed. "Hodges? With a woman? Who? Do we know?" Grissom nodded smugly. "Who? Tell me!"

"Wendy Simms." Grissom said.

"No way!" Sara said again. "Hodges and Wendy? **Hodges **and Wendy? Wendy has lost the use of her eyes I presume." She laughed and nearly fell off the sofa.

"Don't be mean. Their kid is adorable. It's a little girl, wanna know what she's called?" Sara nodded, trying not to burst out laughing again. "Gillian." Sara failed and her body shook with repressed giggles.

"Gillian? As in the feminine version of Gil?"

"Apparently it was Hodges' idea." Grissom shrugged and Sara continues to laugh. When she had calmed down enough to breathe properly Grissom continued. "Did Catherine tell you the telling off she and Warrick got for eloping?" Sara shook her head.

"No but I gave them a real good talking to! I can't believe they eloped and didn't have a proper wedding! If Catherine had been here I'd have skinned her alive!"

Grissom chuckled. "Well Ecklie went to town on them saying all this crap about 'no relationships in the workplace' and 'it's against the rules' but it's a load of crap. There are no rules whatsoever about interoffice relationships, I looked it up years ago…" he realised what he was saying and stopped mid sentence. Sara noticed this and changed the subject.

"And how's Sofia? Still at the lab?" Grissom's face fell slightly and he looked away from her.

"Yeah, though not for much longer." At Sara's look of confusion Grissom continued. "She's pregnant."

"Oh," Sara was shocked. "wow, congratulations Griss!" she hoped she sounded truthfully happy.

"Don't." he held up a hand to stop her. "It's not mine. She's been having an affair for over a year with Ecklie." He smiled grimly at her.

"But how do you…"

"I know it's not mine…because I had a vasectomy about two weeks after you left." He interrupted her question and, not seeing anything he could loose further by laying all his cards on the table, he ploughed on. "Once I was sure you wouldn't be coming back I had a vasectomy because I didn't want to have children if I couldn't have them with you." Sara's jaw hit the ground.

"Griss…"

"I was crushed when you left. I felt like such an idiot, wasting all these years when I could have had them with you." He reached for Sara but she got up and walked to the window.

"Please, Grissom, stop it." She whispered.

"No I will not stop it!" Grissom's voice raised and he stood up too. "Why can't you accept that I love you too?"

"You say you love me, say you want to have my children," she turned to face him, her eyes streaming with tears. "yet Cath told me you didn't wait two months to ask Sofia to marry you! What kind of love is that? If you can't marry the one you want marry the one you're with? Is that it?" she sobbed. Grissom looked down at his left hand, at the gold band on his ring finger. Using his right hand he wrenched the ring from his finger, threw it across the room and rushed up to Sara, gathering her up in his arms and crushing his mouth to hers. He backed her up against the wall and continued the assault on her lips. Once the initial shock of Grissom kissing her, and in such an aggressive manner, had worn off, she found herself reciprocating, her hands making their way from her sides to his hair and his snaked around her waist. When they finally came up for air, Grissom rested his forehead against hers and kept his eyes closed.

"'I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,  
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.  
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,  
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms  
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;  
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,  
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.  
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;  
I love you because I know no other way than this:

Where _I_ does not exist, nor _you_,  
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,  
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.'"

He opened his eyes and looked deep into hers. "You remember before you left you asked me why I love you?" Sara nodded. "Well the plain and simple truth is, Sara, I don't know how to not love you." Sara's breath hitched. "I'd give the world to be with you, I'd give my life for you. I'll do whatever it takes to make you believe me, I love you." His eyes flitted to each of hers. Sara let out a breath she seemed to have been holding forever. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and kissed him with all the passion she'd been forced to keep hidden for seven years.

TBC

* * *

Well how was that? Good? Bad? Dominatrix…I mean Ugly? Hopefully I wont get as many things launched at me with this chapter. Well I've had my first week of college this week and it's been absolutely awesome, and that's why I haven't updated sooner because I'm not getting home 'till about 6 in the evening and then I'm really knackered. My mum's boyfriend got me _The Turn of the Screw_ by Henry James as a belated birthday present (and I mean belated because my birthday was at the beginning of June) and apart from it being incredibly hard to read (old English with thou's and thee's etc.) it too is absolutely awesome! Very scary once you get into it!

**Yet Another Little Depressing Point:** Seen the two minute clip? No? well then I suggest you divert your attention to YouTube or NOW!!! 12 DAYS!!!!!!

**A/N 2: **Has anyone ever seen an old TV show called "The House of Idiot"? You'll never guess who's in it! IT'S SPORK!!!!!!!! I nearly fell off my chair when I saw it was her and I had to watch the clip about seven times to make sure, but it's definitely Sporky!!! She had brown hair and was wearing a cloth head bandana thingy!! No fashion sense at all!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Dude's, we're in single digits now! Under a week!!! I told one of my friends and she went "Really? That went quick." Quick? Quick!?!? Who thinks it went quick? I think it's been the longest 3 months (cos it finished here in June) of my life! And I still have to wait another 4 months until it airs in January! God bless the internet is all I can say! Anyway, chapter 5 now, and a big thank you to the people who keep reviewing, y'all keeping the flow-a-going! Oh, and seeing as I live in England and have never been on a plane (seriously, never had the chance) **and** I have no knowledge of times etc. for the purposes of this fic, it's gonna take about 2 hours to fly from Vegas to San Fran and vice versa…here we go!

* * *

Sara hooked her arm around Grissom's neck and pulled him closer. He went willingly and his hands landed on her hips. Sara moaned and licked Grissom's bottom lip. He opened his mouth and their tongues met. Grissom moved his hands to Sara's waist and lifted her shirt slightly so he could touch her stomach. They both moaned in unison and Sara felt not-so-mini Grissom starting to wake up. She slowly reduced the tempo of the kiss and stroked his face.

"We have to stop. I can't do this with Mark in the house." She whispered. Grissom nodded and smoothed her shirt down again.

"I understand." He kissed her once more and let her go past him to check that Mark was still asleep. Grissom sat down on the sofa and tried to process what had just happened. He had thrown his ring across the room and kissed Sara. He saw it glinting on the floor near the T.V. but didn't bother to pick it up. He just stared at it.

"He's still asleep thank God. Once he's up, he's up." Sara re-entered the lounge and sat next to Grissom. "He's almost nocturnal."

"Sound like someone else I know." He grinned at Sara and reached for her hand. "Can I ask where Mark's father is?"

"Ugh, I have no idea. It was a…uh one night stand. I had to take maternity leave 8 months after I started working at the college." She chuckled. Looking at Grissom's shocked face surprised her. "What's wrong?"

"He didn't…it wasn't…" Sara realised what he was asking and saved him having to say it.

"It was consensual, Griss. I wasn't exactly sober, but I was in my right mind." She stroked his cheek and kissed him. "It's getting late, do you want to stay the night?" he nodded and she led him to her bedroom.

* * *

Grissom woke the next morning and felt a weight on his chest. His eyes were still closed and he didn't open them. 'It was a dream' he thought, 'I dreamt everything. When I open my eyes, I'm gonna see "blonde" hair instead of brown'. He opened his eyes and lifted his head to looked down. A mass of dark brown hair greeted him and he saw Sara lying half on his chest, half on her side of the bed with her arm lying across his waist. She was still sound asleep. Grissom let out a breath he had been holding and laid his head back on the pillow. The movement caused Sara to stir and roll over onto her side of the bed. Grissom turned too and watched her sleep. She was wearing a tank top and sweat pants and was smiling slightly as she slept, making little noises now and then. He stroked her face and glanced at the clock on the bedside table. He needed to get up to prepare for his lecture, but he didn't want to leave the sanctity of the bed. Even though he hadn't yet been intimate with Sara, sleeping with her had been one of the best feelings he had experienced. Admitting defeat, he carefully slipped out of the bed, pulled on his jeans and shirt (having slept in his boxers) and wrote Sara a note explaining that he had gone to the lecture. He kissed her lightly on the mouth and left the bedroom. He located his shoes and sat on the sofa to put them on, noticing something glinting in the morning light near the T.V. Remembering that it was his wedding ring, he looked at his left hand and saw the tan line that had formed over the years. He looked back over his shoulder to Sara's bedroom and then back at the ring. Something in his brain clicked. He stood up, picked up his ring which he stowed in his pocket, and walked out of the house.

* * *

When Sara woke properly, she reached over to Grissom's pillow, and it crinkled. Crinkled? She lifted her head and gazed tiredly at the pillow. The crinkling had been made by a note, which was slightly screwed up now. She picked up the note and read it.

_Good morning/afternoon beautiful (you're pretty out of it as I'm writing this),_

_I had to go and set up for my lecture. I'll call you from the hotel later and we can talk about what's going to happen with us._

_All my love,_

_Gil XxX_

Sara grinned at the note and immediately picked up her cell phone.

"It's your day off Sara, you cannot come in, I'll kick your ass out of the building" Valerie sighed into the phone.

"Don't worry, I've got plans later and I don't want to be buried with work." Sara laughed. "I just wanted to know what time Gil's lecture finishes."

"Oh, were you hoping to talk to him?" Valerie asked. She seemed a little worried.

"Well if he's there I will, but he's gonna call me later, I just wanted to see if he wanted to meet up later or something, is he there?" she heard Valerie sigh.

"Sara, he called me at about 5:30 this morning to say he had to fly back to Vegas for a family emergency." Sara's throat tightened and she scanned the room for the ring he had thrown away last night. Obviously, he had taken it with him because it wasn't next to the T.V. anymore. "Sara? Sara?"

"Oh, sorry Val, I just…uh…never mind, I gotta go."

"Sara…"

"I'm fine, Mark just woke up, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." Sara flipped her phone shut before Valerie could respond and threw it onto the coffee table. Taking deep breaths to calm herself, she got up and went to wake Mark.

* * *

**10 hours later: San Francisco**

Sara and Mark lay asleep on the sofa, having spent most of the day at the park and the evening watching films. The one they had just been watching was one that Mark couldn't go a day without, "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire". The credits had just finished when a knock at the door woke Sara. Mark was dead to the world but Sara could be woken by anything. She managed to get up without waking Mark who was nestled in her lap, and she walked to the door, wondering who would be calling at this time of night. She didn't bother with the peep hole in the door but she knew who it was.

"Hey." Grissom said.

"What do you want?" Sara replied, leaning against the door and only leaving enough space for her to fit between the door and the frame.

"Can we do this inside?" Grissom asked hopefully. When Sara didn't move he spoke again. "Sara, I've got an explanation but I'mincredibly tired so could we please talk inside?" he did look very tired, his hair was slightly scruffy and he had an extreme case of early morning scruff. Sara relented.

"Fine. Come in. I need to put Mark to bed." She left the door open and disappeared. She bent down to Mark and tried to lift him but he squirmed and wriggled out of her grip, huddling further into the sofa and grabbing a pillow.

"Let me help." Grissom said. He scooped Mark up almost effortlessly and carried him into the room he'd heard Sara and Mark giggling in the previous evening. Sara followed and pulled down the covers of his bed so Grissom could lay him in it. Once Mark was tucked in and the pillow had been wrenched out of his grasp, Grissom and Sara relocated back into the lounge.

"So what do you want?" Sara asked as soon as she was seated. "Is this another flying visit or do you plan to stay for a whole day this time?"

"Sara," Grissom sighed and sat next to her. "look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was flying back to Vegas—"

"For a family emergency apparently. Sofia go into early labour?"

"No." Grissom said calmly. "I didn't know I was going back until I left here this morning. I got up with the intention of going to teach a lecture about Uses of Entomology in Forensics, but when I saw my ring lying by the T.V.—"

"Which has disappeared by the way." Sara mumbled. Grissom reached into his jacket pocket, the same jacket along with the same clothes, Sara noticed, that he had been wearing when he'd left that morning, and pulled out his wedding ring and threw it onto the coffee table.

"Like I said, when I saw my ring lying there, I had a realisation." He reached for Sara's hand and although she hesitated slightly, wondering what was happening, she let him take it. "Waking up next to you was possibly the best dream I've ever had, and when I realised it wasn't a dream, that it was reality and that you could possibly be giving me the chance to live that reality all the time, that's when I decided I had to do something about that." He pointed at the ring.

"What are you saying?" Sara asked. Grissom began to tell her what he had done when he'd left the house that morning.

**13 and a half hours ago: San Francisco**

Grissom closed the door gently and walked to his car. Once he was inside, he pulled out his cell phone and firstly dialled the number of the College, telling Valerie that there was a family emergency back in Vegas and that he had to leave straight away. After a few pleasantries and Valerie wishing him luck with the problem, Grissom drove to the airport and got the next plane to Vegas.

**10 hours ago: Las Vegas**

Grissom practically ran through the terminal to the car rentals. As he had left all his luggage back at his hotel in San Francisco, he didn't have to faff about at the luggage carousel. He got the cheapest car he could and drove straight to his house. He packed as much as he could of his clothes and other things and threw them into the trunk of the car. Once this was done, he left for the lab, after making a quick stop.

**7 hours ago: Las Vegas Crime Lab**

Grissom ignored Judy at the front desk as he steamed through the entrance to the lab. She tried to ask him why he was there but he just kept walking. He passed Catherine in the corridor, but he ignored her too. This didn't stop Catherine of course and she just followed him as he power-walked through the lab. He stopped outside of Ecklie's office door and Catherine nearly ran into him.

"Gil what the—" Grissom turned and clamped a hand over Catherine's mouth to silence her. He bent his ear closer to the door and so did she. There were strange noises coming from inside the office and a woman giggled. Catherine's eyes nearly fell out of her head as she distinctly heard Ecklie's voice say Sofia's name. This was Grissom's cue and he opened the door without knocking, finding Ecklie and Sofia sitting **extremely** close together (which is a polite way of saying Sofia was being a slut on Ecklie's lap…mental picture!!!). Sofia let out a small scream and Ecklie sat up making Sofia fall onto the floor.

"Gil…I…" Sofia picked herself up and stuttered as Ecklie hastily did up some of the buttons on his shirt.

"Hi Sofia, Ecklie." He nodded to both of them and walked to the desk, dropping a sealed envelope onto it. "This," he pointed to the letter, "is my letter of resignation and this," he pulled out another envelope from his inside jacket pocket and dropped it on top of the first, "is for you." He pointed to Sofia. "It's a heap of information that you have to sign so we can get a divorce." Everybody's jaws dropped. "And finally, this," he pulled out a third, larger envelope but held onto it, "this is my favourite. Inside this envelope I hold nearly two years worth of activity between you and you," he pointed to Sofia and Ecklie, "and if you," he pointed to Sofia, "don't sign this divorce, neither of you will ever work in this profession again because I'll hand all this information over to the Sheriff. Oh and by the way," he grinned at the stunned faces of Sofia and Ecklie, "I want you," he pointed at Sofia, "out of **my** house be next week. In fact, I'll make it easier for you. I'll pack all your stuff and text you the storage information, which you'll be paying for." He smiled and turned to walk away but Sofia called him.

"Gil! I'm pregnant! You wouldn't throw your unborn child's mother out onto the street would you?"

"Certainly not, and I'm sure Conrad won't either, will you Conrad?" he looked at Ecklie who seemed to be having trouble piecing together what was going on. Sofia looked just as confused. "I had a vasectomy years ago, Sofia, so look to the father of your child before you start whining at me." He again turned to walk out, but stepped back. "One last thing," he walked up to Ecklie and smacked him in the teeth with his fist. "Happy Father's Day Conrad." And with that he walked out of the room. Catherine, who had been standing in the doorway the entire time this had been going on, stepped hastily out of Grissom's way and followed him again, looking back over her shoulder at a crying Sofia and a heap on the floor that was Ecklie.

Grissom entered his office and sat down in the chair behind the desk. His hands where shaking but he took a deep breath and calmed himself. Catherine skidded to a halt in his doorway and gaped at him. She walked into his office and closed the door.

"What, in the name of all that is holy, was that?" she gasped.

"That was something I've been wanting to do for a **long** time." He opened a drawer in his desk, pulled out a full bottle of Scotch and took a healthy swig before offering it to Catherine, who took the bottle and gulped some herself.

"But, what the hell?"

"I haven't got time to tell you the whole story right now Catherine, I've got a plane to catch in," he looked at his watch, "shit, I gotta get a plane in an hour. Long story short, I'm retiring, moving to Frisco—"

"Frisco? Sara?!" Catherine grinned at him, jumped off her chair and hugged him. Then, in a complete mood change 'must be the time of the month' Grissom thought, she smacked him on the arm. "You're an asshole! Why couldn't you have done this years ago? Ugh you frustrating man!" Grissom just stared incredulously at Catherine and rubbed his arm. "Ah well, I guess you've kinda made up for it now, that punch was amazing by the way!"

Grissom was still starring at Catherine but he snapped out of it. "Ok, well like I said, I'm moving to Frisco and Sofia…can do whatever the fuck she wants with the rest of her life. I just hope the baby's not as Fugly as Ecklie." He chuckled.

"So, Sofia's pregnant with Ecklie's kid?" Grissom nodded.

"They've been having an affair for nearly two years." He stood up. "I know you want to hear more about it, but I really have to go if I'm going to make my plane. I'll call you once everything's smoothed over."

"Smoothed over?"

"Well I'm supposed to be teaching a lecture and I didn't tell Sara I was coming back here because I only decided this when I left her house—"

"Whoa! Hold the phone! Stop the presses! **You **were at Sara's house? Overnight? You go Gil!" Grissom rolled his eyes and walked to the door.

"Nothing happened Cath, we just talked and I met her son—"

"Whoa! Hold the phone! Stop the presses again! Sara has a son?" Catherine stood up and opened the door. "I assume I'm sworn to secrecy with this?" Grissom opened the door for her.

"Like that's ever stopped you before." Grissom sniggered.

**4 and a half hours ago: San Francisco**

Grissom had been waiting for his luggage for 20 minutes. When he finally got his bags another 10 minutes later, he rushed out of the airport and found his car (which was still there, even though he had left it in the airport car park). He broke the speed limit roughly 12 times on the way to the hotel he was staying at and there was a huge line at the check in. he got to his room, threw the bag that contained things other than clothes onto the bed and ran back downstairs. Once he had checked out again, he jumped in his car and sped to Sara's house, getting every red light on the way there.

**The present: Sara's House**

"So that's what I've been doing for the past day." Grissom said, still holding Sara's hand. "I've filed for a divorce from a woman I don't love, I resigned from my job, I punched my boss…well, my ex-boss who's sleeping with my ex-wife, I haven't shaved, washed, brushed my teeth or changed my clothes in over 24 hours, and now I've come to the house where the love of my life is sitting right in front of me and I'm going to ask her to give me a chance to make things right again because I know I've royally fucked things up." He said all this in one breath. Sara was sitting dumbfounded at his words. They sat in silence for what seemed like forever before Sara spoke.

"So…I'm the love of your life am I?" she asked. Grissom smiled and nodded. "And you're staying here? With me?"

"Well I'm still at the hotel but I brought some clothes on the off chance." Grissom whispered. Sara nodded. She spotted something around his neck and reached out for it.

"What's around your neck?" Grissom grinned at her and opened the top button of his shirt, revealing the necklace she had given him when she left. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "You actually wear it?"

"Every day you've been gone. Sara I love you, I want to be with you, please tell me I have one last chance."

"Things have changed a lot Grissom. Mark is my life. He gets the gold, silver and bronze medals. He comes first." Sara said.

"I understand that, I really do. I want to get to know Mark too. He's important to you that means he's important to me." He caressed her face. "I love you." He said again. He leant forwards and hesitantly kissed her.

"I love you too." Sara sobbed as a tear rolled down her cheek. "You're a complete asshole at times, but I still love you."

TBC

* * *

Yes, I know, poo ending, but it's 2:42 in the morning and I have to be up at 8. Dude's, 5 days and we'll be put out of our misery (or put into some more…happy thoughts) but I swear if they leave the first eppy at another sodding cliffhanger, I will be watching the rest of the season from a padded cell. 


	6. Chapter 6

Right, well, first tings first, very sorry for not updating in a while, college and lack of time has prevented me. Plus I already had this chapter written out, but then it looked pretty poo so I re-wrote it. Now that's out of the way…OMG THE PREMIER!!! Christ almighty! I was sooooooo stressed about it!!! OMG and a God amongst men is putting every episode on YouTube!!! Search for ausielloforcsi.

* * *

"What are you doing?" a sleepy Sara asked a hyper Mark the next morning as he jumped up and down on the bed.

"Fish is making breakfast and he told me to come wake you up" he practically yelled, still jumping up and down. Sara grabbed him around the waist and pulled him under the covers with her. Mark squeaked and giggled as she tickled his ribs.

"And who exactly is Fish?" she asked him whilst tickling him.

"Mommy!" Mark screamed delightedly. "Mommy! Stop!" Sara relented and kissed the top of his head. Mark looked at her sadly. "Why'd you stop?" Ignoring the infeasible logic of a four year old, she again who 'Fish' was. "The guy that found me in the mall. He's nice, I like him." Realising he meant Gil, she registered that he wasn't in the bed.

"Why did you call him 'Fish' honey?"

"Cos you said fishies have gills and his name is gill so I call him Fish cos it sounds funny!" Mark exclaimed.

"Mark," Sara laughed. "fishes have **gills**, spelt with two L's. Mommy's friend **Gil** is spelt with one L. You understand?" Mark looked puzzled for a moment and then he smiled. "Good boy. Now, let's see what Fish has got us for breakfast." She climbed out of the bed, picked up Mark and headed to the kitchen. Grissom was slaving over a hot coffee pot and turned at the sound of Sara's feet padding on the floor. He smiled and kissed her, to which Mark made a fake gagging noise.

"Mommy! Cooties!" he said in a 'duh' tone. Both Sara and Gil laughed and Grissom turned back to the coffee pot to pour it out.

"I didn't know what the little guy would want for breakfast so I thought I'd wait 'till you got up." Grissom explained. He placed a mug in front of Sara as she placed Mark on a seat at the kitchen counter. "And then he woke up and decided to get you so…" Sara turned to Mark.

"What would you like for your breakfast buddy?"

"A fruit smoothie!" he said quickly. Grissom laughed.

"I thought you said he wasn't a vegetarian?"

"What? The boy can't be a meat eater **and **eat healthily?" she got up off the seat and pottered around the kitchen getting out all the things she needed for the smoothie. This seemed to be a regular occurrence, Grissom thought, as Sara put in nearly every fruit she had in the fruit bowl on the counter. As he drifted off into chain of thought, Sara caught his starring at her bottom.

"Are you ogling me, Mr. Grissom?" she smirked as he jerked back to her eyes at the sound of his name.

"It's Dr. Grissom to you, and no I wasn't. I was just thinking, who thought up the idea of a smoothie? I mean," he paused to let Sara and Mark's laughter subside, "when you've quite finished." Sara wafted a hand at him to continue. "Thank you. I was just thinking it's just such a stupid name to come up with. Did a guy just randomly go one day "You know, I think I'll crush up a load of fruit and put a tad of milk in and drink it, and here's an idea, I'll market it and call it a smoothie"? It's like a lasagne. Who would think to put layers of tomato sauce, cheese and meat together? It's just…odd." He finished and looked at Sara.

"Uh…I don't know Griss, you'd have to find the guy that invented them." She grinned and turned back to the half smoothied smoothie.

"It was a rhetorical question Sara." Grissom sighed as Sara finished blending the smoothie, poured it into Mark's sippy cup and handed it to him.

"I know it was Gil, it was just such a randomly random thing to come out with." She cupped his face and kissed him again. "Mmm I love being able to do that for real." She smiled against his mouth.

"Me too." He said and pecked her once more on the lips before going back into the bedroom to get dressed.

* * *

Six months later and Grissom had finally sold his house and, after a bunch of meetings in which it was decided that Sofia would get nothing of Grissom's, he was divorced and officially living with Sara. Mark had taken to Grissom straight away, something Sara had been worried about, but Gil had made the whole thing as comfortable as he could and to his surprise Mark was ecstatic when told Grissom was going to be living with them. They kept in touch with the rest of the team as much as they could between the time differences and their working hours, Grissom having been offered a job at the College almost immediately, and although they were a little peeved that Sara hadn't told them about Mark, they were more than happy to meet the little lad when they visited for a weekend a week later.

"Shit, he's the spit of you Sara!" Greg exclaimed as soon as he clapped eyes on Mark. Mark gaped and pointed his hand to a jar on the kitchen counter.

"You said a swear! You have to put a dollar in the cuss jar!" he said in a sing song voice. Greg laughed and ruffled Mark's hair.

"Nice one little guy." He stood up and Sara raised an eyebrow at him. "Seriously?"

"You heard the little guy." Grissom said, leaning against the wall with his arms folded. Greg turned back to Mark and saw he had his arms folded and was leaning against the wall exactly like Grissom. Greg mumbled something about "damn miniature Grissom" but Mark caught the swear and so now Greg was two dollars worse off.

"Gee, thanks for helping with the bags Greg." Catherine said as she came through the door carrying both her and Greg's bags. Greg wafted a hand at her and told her not to mention it, and then quickly ran away before Catherine could throw his bag at him. Grissom went outside to the van that Greg, Catherine, Warrick, Nick and Brass had driven up in and helped unload the bags. Brass was struggling to get his out from underneath a folded down seat in the boot while Nick and Warrick laughed their heads off.

"Stupid son of a—"

"Mind how you finish that sentence Jim, Greg's already "donated" two dollars to the cuss jar and I'm sure it'll be full by the time you all leave." Brass spun around and smiled at his friend.

"Griss! Hey man, we've missed you." Nick and Warrick extended their hands to shake his and he hugged Brass, in a manly fashion of course. Once inside, everyone greeted Sara and Mark and they set about sorting out sleeping arrangements.

"Ok, we have two spare rooms and a fold out couch." Grissom said. "I'm guessing Cath and Warrick want one spare room?" Catherine rolled her eyes. "I'll take that as a yes. I'm also going to guess that Brass wants to share with Greg?"

"Do it and die Gil." Brass replied gruffly.

"Alright, Nick and Greg get the last room and Brass gets the couch, which is very comfortable by the way. That ok with everyone?" the team murmured their agreement and went to put their bags in the allocated rooms.

"I don't know how I'll sleep now, knowing Brass doesn't want to share a room with me." Greg said before he disappeared through his door. "Woe is me! Woe is me!"

They all had a pleasant meal together, all apart from Greg, who's wallet was quickly thinning out, and then settled down in the lounge to watch a film. They argued for a while over what to watch, but the girls won in the end when they bribed a certain two of the group with things that are not suitable for children's ears, seeing as Mark was still in the room, so they ended up watching "Raising Helen". Nick and Greg quietly talked nearly all the way through but fell asleep, Brass was out like a light laying on the pull out bed as soon as the starting credits began to roll and Mark started to doze so Sara took him to bed. When she came back, she settled onto Grissom's lap and leaned into his embrace. Catherine and Warrick were huddled together at the other end of the couch and the couples had the sleeping Nick and Greg between them. Five minutes into the film and Sara and Catherine were already in tears. By the end of the film, even Warrick and Grissom were welling up. When the film finished, Grissom woke Greg and Nick as quietly as they could so as not to disturb Brass, Sara turned the TV off and Warrick and Catherine said goodnight and went to bed. Once everyone was in their correct slumbering places, Grissom and Sara curled up in bed. Sara was still sniffling as Grissom turned out the light.

"Honey, you ok?" he asked, stroking her face.

"I'm fine," she wiped her eyes. "that film just got to me." She kissed him and snuggled into his arms to sleep. "I don't know what would happen to Mark if anything ever happened to me." She mumbled sleepily.

"I'd be here." Grissom whispered. Sara mumbled something and her breathing changed, meaning she was asleep. Grissom followed suit a few minutes later, and in the few seconds it took his brain to shut down, he'd made a decision.

TBC

* * *

And you'll find out what that decision is in the next chapter. Once again I apologise for not posting this sooner, but college is…well actually college rocks!!! It's just really time consuming, and then there's a lot of stuff been happening recently which has taken up most of my free time, but huge thank you's to the people taking time to read and review this little ditty, the reviews honestly do make my day. Oh, and for those who've watched the film "Raising Helen" you might have a teeny tiny inkling as to what Grissom's decision will be and why the film affected Sara and to those of you who haven't watched it, do! Just remember to bring a few trees worth of tissues because I wasn't joking when the crying started about 5 minutes into it! 


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks a bunch for the wonderful reviews! My life's been a bit hellish recently with a friend and her $$ of an ex…he's the type of guy that makes you want to castrate him and then force feed his own bollocks to him, ya know? Anyway, back to the story, oh and, the information in this chapter I have made up because I don't know the first thing about what I'm writing about…and yeah, that sound quite bad, but just work with me here.

* * *

"Thanks again Val." Grissom said as he stepped out of Valerie's office a few days later.

"No problem Gil, you just have fun, I'll be round at about six, that ok?"

"That's perfect, gives me time to go and pick it up first." He said goodbye and went to find Sara. She was in the staffroom playing catch with an apple with Harry. "Is this how you spend you're breaks?" he laughed. Sara dropped the apple and turned to him. Harry waved and picked up the apple.

"Yes. Problem?" she grinned and went over to kiss him.

"Nope, no problem." He kissed her back.

"Ugh get a room!" Harry mock whined as he left the staffroom. "Some of us have got real work to do Sara, see ya later." Sara smacked him on the back as he left.

"Whatever Harold." Harry yelled back "Don't call me that!" and Sara laughed at him. "So what's up?"

"I just came to inform you that I'm taking you on a wonderful evening out tonight, so be ready to leave at around 6:30pm." He kissed her once more and went to open the door.

"Wait," Sara called "what about Mark?"

"Valerie's taking him, just be ready." And with that, he left. Sara stared at him for a minute before heading into Valerie's office.

"I am not at liberty to discuss it." She told Sara before she could even open her mouth.

"How did you know I was even going to ask anything about Gil?" Valerie cocked an eyebrow. "Alright fine, what are we doing this evening?"

"Did I not just say I'm not at liberty to discuss it?" Valerie stood up and ushered Sara out of the office. "Now he gave me instructions, you're to go home and gussy yourself up, so go." She shoved her in the back and shut the door.

"You're a really weird person, you know that?"

* * *

Valerie knocked on the door at 5:30pm and was greeted by Sara in…

"Your work clothes?! No Sara." she grabbed Sara's hand and dragged her to the bedroom. Mark got up from the floor where he was colouring and followed them.

"Val, I've got it covered." Sara whimpered but Valerie was having none of it.

"Sara! You are going on a date in an hour and you are not ready! Please tell me you at least have an outfit to wear!" Sara rolled her eyes as Valerie set to work sifting through her wardrobe.

"Well you seen to have the clothing department sorted so I'm going to get a quick shower, ok?" Valerie waved a hand at her without turning round and Sara wandered off into the bathroom.

* * *

An hour later, Grissom knocked on the door. He heard a lot of fumbling and then the door was thrown open.

"Why the hell did you knock to get into your own house?" Valerie asked, bewildered. They heard Sara yell "Watch your language" from the bedroom and they smiled.

"It's tradition." Grissom shrugged and stepped in the door. "Is she ready?" Valerie beamed at him and nodded.

"You're a lucky son of a…gun." she dodged the bullet and continued. "Did you get the—"

"Hey, why did you knock to get into your own house Gil?" Sara entered the lounge and Grissom stared at her. Valerie smirked at him and Sara blushed.

"Well I guess I'll find out later then. Come on Mark." She beckoned the child and patted Grissom on the shoulder. Mark came running with his backpack, hugging Sara and Grissom on the way out.

"Bye Daddy." He whispered to Grissom before he left. Grissom gasped and stared after him.

"So what's Val finding out later?" Sara asked. Grissom snapped his attention back to her and shook his head.

"Oh, nothing. Sara, you look beautiful." And she did. Valerie had done an expert job on picking her outfit. She was wearing a midnight blue dress that stopped short of her feet and had straps that went around her neck. Her hair she had left to dry naturally so it curled slightly and framed her face.

"You don't look so bad yourself." She smiled at him. He was wearing a black dress shirt with black jeans and a charcoal grey blazer.

Grissom blushed and leaned forwards to kiss her. "Thank you dear. Your chariot awaits." He offered her his arm and led her out to the front door to the car.

* * *

They drove to a restaurant in a secluded part of the town, small and out of the way, which looked like a cottage complete with a thatch roof and was situated in front of a small lake. As they stepped out of the car, Sara looked at the building and gasped.

"Wow Gil, it's beautiful. How on earth did you find this place?"

Grissom blushed. "I was going to bring you here the first time I met you. I found this place years ago and I'd never been, but when I saw you, pretty much my first thought was 'I need to bring her here', but I never got round to it…maybe if I had…"

"No maybe's Gil. We're here now and that's all that matters." She smiled and took his hand and they walked to the entrance.

* * *

After the meal, Grissom took Sara back to the car and told her to close her eyes.

"What? Why?"

"Just do it honey, you'll like it I promise." His pleading eyes made her give in.

"Oh alright, just as long as I don't end up as an experiment or something." He nudged her shoulder at this comment.

"It wont be long." He started the car and they set off. "Are you sure you can't see?"

"I am extremely sure I can't see. Are we there yet?" Grissom chuckled at her and pulled into a spot to park.

"Yes we're here, but keep your eyes shut." Sara groaned and Grissom chuckled again. He got out of the car and ran around to her side to help her out. "Watch your head, this way." He led her over to a small stone bench that was covered with a small rug. "Sit down here." She sat down and Grissom sat next to her. "Open your eyes." Sara did as she was asked and gasped. The view was phenomenal. There was hardly any light apart from the car head lights, the moon and the stars. "Do you like it? You don't get a view like this from town."

"No you don't." Sara stared at the stars and watched one go soaring across the sky. "It's gorgeous. Thank you for this." She beamed at him and kissed him softly.

"No need to thank me honey." He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her to him as they gazed at the sky. After a while, Grissom felt it was the right time to do what he'd set out to do. "Sara?"

"Hmm?"

"I need to talk to you about something I've been thinking a lot about recently, well for a long time." She sat up and looked at him.

"What is it? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine hon. It's more to do with you and Mark." She shook her head in confusion. "I've been thinking, we've been getting closer, I've really bonded with Mark and before we left, when Mark hugged me, he called me Daddy." Sara gasped at this and smiled at him. "And it felt real, natural, so what I'm asking is, would it be ok with you if I adopted Mark? So he'd be my son, our son?" he gazed into Sara's eyes and her jaw dropped.

"Gil! Oh my God!" Sara practically jumped on him and hugged him. "Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack. I love him like my own anyway." Sara beamed at him, but then her face dropped and she sighed. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Gil, you can't. The law states that you could only adopt Mark if we were—"

"Married?" he reached into his pocket and withdrew a small blue velvet box. Sara gasped again and her hands flew to her mouth. Grissom smiled and slipped off the bench onto one knee, taking one of Sara's hands in his own. "Sara, from the moment I met you I knew I was done. There was never to be anyone else and I never wanted anyone else. You changed my life for the better and when you left Vegas I was lost. It was like going back to my old life without you, but how do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart, you begin to understand, there is no going back? I guarantee that we'll have tough times and I guarantee that at some point one or both of us will want to get out. But I also guarantee that if I don't ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for the rest of my life cause I know in my heart you're the only one for me. Sara, will you make me the happiest man in the world and do me the honour of marrying me?"

Through watery eyes, Sara smiled. "Did you just propose to me using two movie quotes?"

Grissom chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, I suppose I did. I've been thinking about this for a long time Sara." Sara sniffed.

"Yes." She whispered.

"Yes?"

"Yes." Sara's hand shook as Grissom removed the ring from the box and slipped it onto her finger. "I love you Gil."

"I love you too honey." He leant forwards and kissed her. "Do you like the ring?"

"It's beautiful." She sobbed. It was a simple platinum band with a cluster of diamonds inlaid in it shaped like a butterfly. "A butterfly, I should have know."

Grissom stood up and brought Sara with him. "Only the best for you Sara." they kissed again and Grissom took her hand. "Come on, lets go home."

* * *

And that's chapter 7. I hope it was alright, not been the best week. Anyway, it's gonna be a busy week this week because I have two essays that have to be in on Thursday (which I really want to hurry up and get here!!!) and I'm bound to get more. Good news though, week after next (I think) is my half term, so should get some writing done! Oh last thing, the movie quotes that Grissom proposed to Sara with were from Lord of The Rings: Return of The King (That was the "How do you pick up an old life" bit) and The Runaway Bride (That was the "I guarantee" bits), yes, I stole them, happy now? 


	8. Chapter 8

Well, here we are, the last chapter. And yeah, I know I said I'd get it done while on half term which was...well it was a while ago now, but my muse decided to go on hiatus until GBaGL aired, and now he's back in time to finish this. It's been a great ride, but all good things must come to and end. I hop eyou all enjoyed reading this as I did writing it, it's been great fun. I will be doing an epilogue becuase...well because I want to. So, until then, enjoy!.

* * *

The sun streamed through the curtains and the two sleeping inhabitants stirred. Grissom rolled over, pulled Sara closer to him and kissed her hair. 

"Good morning future wife." He mumbled into her ear.

"Good morning future husband." Sara mumbled back. She opened her eyes and beamed at him. He rolled on top of her and kissed her soundly. "I love you."

"Oh the feeling's definitely mutual." He grinned, kissed her again and got out of bed, heading to the bathroom.

"So what are we doing first?" Sara called to him. He stuck his head around the bathroom door.

"Huh?"

"Well, are we telling people first or are we calling a solicitor to sort out Mark?" Grissom grinned at her.

"Well, we kinda have to tell Val first, we should have called her last night but you distracted me," she tutted. "so I guess we're telling people first."

"Val knew about this didn't she?" Sara smirked and Grissom did the same.

"Maybe." He disappeared again and Sara heard him brushing his teeth so she got up and started to make breakfast.

* * *

"Mommy! Daddy!" Mark yelled and ran into Grissom and Sara's legs. Grissom scooped him up and a few seconds later, Valerie ran through the door.

"Damn Sara, he's definitely your kid." She said, breathlessly. She looked up and saw all three pointing to the 'Cuss Jar'. Valerie sighed and deposited a dollar before turning back to Grissom and questioning him with her eyes.

"What's up Val?" he said.

"Oh, I was just wondering if you managed to get that thing done that you wanted to do." She looked uncomfortable and kept shifting her eyes from him to Sara, who was trying desperately not to giggle.

"What thing?"

"You know, that **thing**, the really important thing you wanted to get done last night?" Grissom put on a confused face and shook his head. Valerie sighed again, obviously thinking he'd either not proposed or Sara had said no and he didn't want to talk about it. "Never mind."

"Oh Val, we have got something to tell you though." Sara said, struggling to speak normally at the look on Val's face.

"What?" Val said dejectedly.

"It's nothing really, just Sara and I are getting married, that's all, we just wanted you to know so you—" Grissom was cut off by Valerie running at him and tackling him in a huge hug.

"**You** are an absolute a-hole! You made me think he'd said no for Christ's sake!"

"Cuss Jar!" Mark yelled, jumping up and down on the sofa and wondering what all the fuss was about.

"Hey, don't damage the goods before I've finished with them." Sara said and Valerie let go of Grissom.

"And you!" she pointed at Sara. "Where the—" she eyed Mark who was getting ready to yell 'Cuss Jar' again. "Where's your ring?" Sara smiled and un-tucked a chain around her neck to reveal the ring hanging on it. "Holy…wow Sara, it's beautiful." Sara took it off the chain and handed in to Val who held it like it was glass.

"Mommy, what that?" Mark tugged on Sara's pant leg and pointed to Valerie's hand.

"It's mommy's engagement ring sweetie." She said, picking him up.

"Gagement wing?" Mark looked confused.

"Yes, it means Gil and I are going to get married."

"You an daddy git mawwied?" Grissom beamed at being called daddy again, Sara nodded and Val's jaw dropped. "What that mean?"

"It means that we love each other very much and we want to be together for the rest of our lives." Grissom said, making Sara's eyes water.

"What bout me daddy?" Mark said, still looking confused.

"Well we couldn't do it without you son, could we?" Grissom kissed him on top of the head and then kissed Sara. Mark stared at Grissom for a few seconds and then smiled.

"Kay, can I go play now?" Sara put him down and he ran to his room.

"Well I'd love to stay and fill up the Cuss Jar, but I've got places to go, people to see, meetings to attend, lessons to plan, oh wait, the last one was yours Sara, see you Monday." Val began to walk to the door.

"Alright, thanks for watching Mark, say hello to Harry for me." Val froze and turned back to Sara.

"What, uh, what do you mean?" she suddenly looked very shifty. Mark ran back into the room wielding his favourite stuffed animal.

"Unca Harry? He stayin wiv you again? Can I stay?" Sara and Grissom's jaws dropped.

"All I meant was say hello to him because you're in a meeting with him this morning, but there's obviously something else going on." She smirked. Valerie scowled at both of them.

"Fine, we've been dating for a while, we don't want everyone knowing ok?"

"Hey, it's fine. We're happy for you." Sara said. "But you do realise that you're now coming to the wedding as a couple." Valerie sighed again.

"Yeah, I guessed as much. Thanks Mark." She put her thumbs up at him sarcastically and Mark grinned and did the same. "Alright, I'm off before I get into any more trouble." She congratulated them once more and headed out of the door.

"I guess it's time to start phoning around." Sara smiled and kissed Grissom.

"I've got a better idea." Grissom said.

* * *

"Hey Gil, Sara. Hi Mark" Catherine greeted the couple and Mark as she opened her front door.

"You're here early." Warrick appeared and helped them with their bags.

"Yeah, the plane was early." Sara said, taking Mark's little suitcase from him as he was struggling to get it up the fronts step of the house. "Thanks for letting us stay."

"Hey, we were planning a holiday anyway, and the holiday came to us." Catherine chuckled. "Anyway, what's this juicy news you have?".

'Trust Catherine to get straight into it.' Grissom thought. "Well, call the rest of the gang, we'll take you all out to dinner and tell you then." He stifled his laughter as Catherine's face visibly fell.

"Fine." She grumbled and went about calling Nick, Greg and Brass.

Later that night once it had been agreed that Lindsay would be babysitting Mark, everyone met up at the Bellagio per Grissom and Sara's request and once they were all seated and had ordered their meals they bombarded the couple with questions.

"Alright, alright." Grissom stopped the group's ramblings and cleared his throat. "Seeing as you all want answers now, I'd assume you've all been spending too much time with Catherine." He paused while Jim quietly chuckled and the woman herself glared at him. "Seriously though, Sara and I have some extremely good news—"

"Oh my God you're pregnant!" Catherine gasped loudly. Everyone's jaws dropped and they stared at Grissom and Sara.

"Uh…no." Sara stuttered. "But it's similar, Gil is adopting Mark and they're both ecstatic about it."

The group were stunned. Greg broke the silence. "Don't you need to be married to do that?" he asked, confused. Catherine, being the smart-jumping-to-conclusions type of woman, gasped again.

"Oh my God you're getting married!" she jumped up, upsetting the glasses on the table, and hugged Sara. "Where's the ring?" Sara laughed and showed them all.

"Wow." Nick whispered.

And that was just the word to describe it.


	9. Epilogue

So here's the epilogue, I want to thank everyonewho's stuck with thsis and reviewed. You guys absolutely rock! If you haven't reviewed, well I just hoped you liked reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. One last thing, this final chapter was written under the influence of many, many spoonfuls of cough medicine and a whole host of other flu-type medicines so I apologise for wierd grammar or spelling, or if it makes no sense whatsoever. Tip for life: DON'T SHARE DRINKS WITH YOUR FRIEND IF HE HAS A COLD!!!

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**San Francisco, June 7th 2019**

Sara stood in the gloomy kitchen of the house that had once held so many happy memories and looked out over the back yard, to the pool that was no longer in use, the yellow patches of grass that indicated where the swing-set had been, the plastic barrel that had one held sand in the summer months in which Mark would play with herself and Grissom. But Mark would never play in the sand barrel, or on the swings, or in the pool. She and Grissom could no longer tease him by holding a toy high out of his reach. A tear formed in her eye and dropped onto the kitchen counter. Sara dried her eyes and let out a sigh. So many memories…

"Hey mom, we going or what?" a tall, well built teenage boy with a mop of curly brown hair stalked into the kitchen. "Dad says…are you ok?" he noticed Sara's slightly red eyes and gave her a concerned look.

"I'm fine Mark. Just thinking about all the things that have happened here." She looked around the room again and Mark shrugged.

"Yeah, it's been emotional, we've laughed, we've cried, yadda yadda yadda." He dodged his mother's hand as she moved to playfully smack his arm.

"Shut up and tell me what your father said." Sara giggled.

"Sara? Asha's getting restless, you ok to leave soon?" Gil poked his head around the door-frame. Mark sighed.

"I guess that's what he said." Sara smiled at her son. "I'll be out in a minute, go and see to your sister." Mark groaned and dropped his head, but did as he was told. Grissom walked up to Sara and wrapped his arms around her.

"You ok?" he kissed the top of her head and felt her nod against his chest. "Come on. Say goodbye to the house." He kissed her cheek and walked back out to the car.

Sara took one last look around the kitchen, thinking about the last twelve years. She and Grissom had married two years after the proposal, once they were fairly sure Mark would be able to remember the wedding and being the ring bearer. Another year later, Grissom had successfully adopted Mark. Sara snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the delighted yells coming from Asha. She walked to the front door and saw Mark frantically tickling the small girl. Five years ago, Grissom had had his vasectomy reversed so he and Sara could try for a baby. After over two years of trying and two miscarriages, Asha was conceived. Now, they were all moving to a bigger house in the same neighbourhood that Valerie and Harry now lived.

"Come on honey." Grissom called. Sara smiled and closed the door as she walked out of the house.

They were a family.

Finally.

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Ha! See what I did there? Making you think something bad had happened! I wouldn't do that to you. And like I said, major thanks go to:

regan666  
bbandgsr  
Haldir's Heart and Soul  
catysmom  
Serendipity73  
Sara and gabriella  
slmuk  
SaraLou  
marina kroskinsque  
nymazz  
evidesmedt (Bet you're glad you kept reading now aren't you :-D)  
Jannisky  
superCSIgsryoblingfan5875  
AnaRita69  
MSCSIFANGSR  
grissom07  
joanna  
Lauren  
chriscarter661  
U-Luv-CSI-House-2 (How glad were you with the lack of the premier ending on a cliffy? No padded cell for us! Well, not then anyway, might need one now though...)  
Rach5  
buckit  
csijunkie no1 1  
shelly123  
Grissom1  
jenstog  
You all rock the most for telling me how it went, much love! Until next time guys, love, peace and chicken grease! G'bye!


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